Atlantic County’s public safety community is mourning a longtime officer, firefighter and emergency worker.
Michael Robison, 48, died Tuesday attributed to heart issues.
“He gave his whole life to public service,” said Hamilton Township Police Chief Gregory Ciambrone, who spent his career working with Robison.
Robison started his career with Hamilton Township police as a dispatcher in 1994. But he knew long before then that he wanted to work in public service, Ciambrone said.
Their grandmother used to have the fire siren in her backyard in Weymouth Township. Whenever it would go off, Robison and his twin brother, Matt, would hop on their bikes and got down to the corner waiting for the fire chief to respond.
“Their bikes had blinking blue lights,” Ciambrone said of the story he recently heard. “At 7 years old.”
Robison eventually answered fire calls himself by joining the Weymouth Volunteer Fire Co., the same place he and his brother stayed with their grandmother as children.
He was a trained emergency medical technician, and served as chief of the Hamilton Township Rescue Squad.
It gave officers who served with him an additional sense of safety when he was around.
“He was that guy you knew if he was backing you up, you were going to be OK,” Ciambrone said. “He had such a great amount of knowledge from EMS to fire and everything else.”
Robison also had a wide array of experience as officer, starting out as a Special Law Enforcement Officer Class II before joining the department full time.
He worked as a patrol officer, detective, arson investigator and even a sworn federal DEA agent, his last assignment before retiring in July 2021.
He earned the respect of other law enforcement agencies as well.
Robison was “a dedicated law enforcement servant,” Egg Harbor Township Capt. Heath Per said. “From county-wide burglary task force investigations to serving on the the DEA HIDTA task force, Detective Robison was committed to keeping his community and Atlantic County safe.”
He lived and breathed his work, Ciambrone said, adding, “probably to a fault.”
It wasn’t unusual for Robison to show up at a scene when he was supposed to be off or was also on call with fire or EMT.
“He was around, so he came to help,” Ciambrone said. “That was Mike.”
Robison leaves behind his two sons, Michael Jr., 19, and Nicholas, 15.
“He was just somebody you could count on,” Ciambrone said. “You knew he had your back.”
During his time with the Police Department, Robison earned seven lifesaving awards, five Exceptional Service medals, 10 certificates of appreciation, and more 40 accommodations. He was twice awarded the VFW Officer of the Year.
A Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Vincent DePaul Church, 5021 Harding Highway in Mays Landing, with a viewing beginning at 9 a.m.. Burial will follow at Holy Cross Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the American Heart Association.
